Earlier I pondered on WVU’s personnel.  Today – the schedule.

On the week of kickoff the schedule appears to be improved over schedules of the recent past, although it’s not unmanageable.  The conference slate is as tough as one thinks the conference is.  If you like South Florida’s defensive speed, think that UConn is scrappy and pushes their will of Four Corners on opponents, and believe that Pitt’s stellar recruiting classes will pay off, then you’ll see those seven games as potential landminds.  If, on the other hand, you think South Florida’s offense is flaky, UConn is a fluke, and Pitt is underacheiving under the ultimate underacheiving coach, then you will be pissed if WVU is not 7-0 in conference.  Non conference wise, Big East member Villanova (OK, basketball only member) is a payday game and Marshall is a forced opponent who is bottoming out at just the wrong time for WVU.  East Carolina, while still being ECU, has become a pesky little team to deal with and has become a tougher out than they should be lately.  Colorado is still struggling in the weaker division of the Big 12, but they will host WVU in the thinner air.  Auburn represents the crown jewel of the home schedule.

Game by game….

Villanova (8/30) – they are supposed to be a nice competitive game in their conference.  Problem is, that’s a 1-AA conference and they’re no Appy State.

at ECU (9/6) – the first of two potential trap games non-conference wise.  Skip Holtz has made ECU into a noisy little yap-dog of a team.  They return a shifty QB of their own in Patrick Pinkney to run the spread, but the question will be who steps up to help him after losing some good talent skill wise.  Defensively the line and backers are solid, but the secondary can be a sieve.  Since WVU is breaking in some new offensive schemes, signals, etc., it would have been nice for this game to be at home.  However, if the expectation is to be a player on the national scene then this should be a win.  Period.

at Colorado (9/18) – the second straight trap game.   They’re expected to be an average Big 12 North team, which means not any good.  Playing in Boulder on a Thursday night can only help Colorado, giving WVU a second straight electric enviroment in which they need to take care of business.  Pouring the points on before the thin air kicks in would be a good strategy.  Like ECU, this is a game WVU expect to win even with the new kinks.

Marshall (9/27) – this isn’t your older brother’s Blundering Nerds.  Pruett, Pennington, Bradshaw, Moss, Leftwich – all gone.  The annual Welfare Bowl may mean more money in Huntingon Community College’s pockets, but that’s all they’re bringing back from Morgantown…that and another bad loss, of course.

Rutgers (10/4) – a young defense and an offense without RB Ray Rice means that Mike Teel’s arm will have to carry this team, and to date this has been a losing proposition.

Syracuse (10/11) – Head Coach Greg Robinson, continually refefining what the bottom of the barrel is in upstate New York.  That’s about all that needs said.

Auburn (10/23) – the non conference game that is circled on numerous calendars.  If WVU has national expectations, this Thursday night home showcase game is a must-win.  It won’t be easy, with Auburn returning a nasty defensive unit.  The offense is a work in progress with a conversion to a spread of their own.  This game is not unwinnable, but to be considered a contender this is the time where the Mountaineers must shine.

at Connecticut (11/1) – win or lose against Auburn, refocus is necessary to close out the year strong.  Lose against Auburn and this could be a hangover game.  Beat Auburn, then make sure to be ready for the home stretch.  Connecticut alone does not have the firepower nor defense to be on the same field as WVU, so the only way this game is lost is if the Mountaineers let themselves lose.

Cincinnati (11/8) – Ben Mauk was denied a medial sixth year earlier this summer, and the remaining quarterbacks are not overwhelming.  The defense is good, but that won’t matter when they can’t score points.

at Louisville (11/22) – the first “sneaky” game since the leaves were still green.  Louisville is a difficult team to gage.  On one hand, they have a lot of individual talent.  Brohm is gone, but Hunter Cantwell is already proven as a QB.  They still have offensive and defensive playmakers.  On the other hand, there was a full blown revolution from the players against new coach Steve Kragthorpe last year, and some of the Petrino-era recruits are living down to the prior coach’s character with some dismissals this spring & summer.  Still, Louisville has been one of the tough conference games year after year and to overlook them in late November would be a huge mistake at the Pizza Oven.

at Pitt (11/28) – the bitter taste still lingers.   Let’s get two things straight right now: (1) Pitt absolutely won last years game, mainly because Dave Wannstadt outcoached Rod and that’s the embarrassing truth. (2) One game does not a coach make.  Just as Stew has to prove that he’s more than the Fiesta Bowl, Wanny needs to show that he’s more of a coach than merely perplexing a stubborn playcaller once.  Year after year, the pundits claim that Pitt is stocking themselves full of talent and this will be “the year” when Pitt steps up to be a contender.  Year after year, Wanny craps his pants.  There’s no one in the Mountaineer locker room that shouldn’t be out for blood this time around.

South Florida (12/6) – blood match #2.  In the last four years, WVU has four conference losses, and USF holds two of them back to back.  The last time WVU beat the Bulls?  The final regular season game before the Sugar Bowl.  Both losses had the same culprits at the core – WVU turned the ball over at will in the oncoming rush of a very fast, athletic defense, and injuries to key players.  Pat and Steve have missed part of both games, and the resulting offense was even more one dimensional than usual.  The players need that same fire here that they use against Pitt, and the training staff needs to bring their “A” game to end this losing streak.

Given all this, how do I call it?  I’ve seen Mitch Vingle say this is The Year, that 12-0 is the expected result.  Maybe I’ve been a fan too long, but I’m a little cynical.  I really, really want to believe that this is the year, but every August I believe that.  They’re all winnable games, but if I’m forcing myself to pick one loss it would be the Auburn game.  I think they can win it and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them do it, but I just have the feeling that we will drop one this year and Auburn is at least a respectable loss.  I see the ECU, Colorado, and Louisville games being a little close for comfort, and if it does follow the loss I expect a first half hangover against UConn before blowing the game wide open in the 3rd quarter.  So that gives us an 11-1 record, another conference title, and a BCS date somewhere.  Most pundits are putting us in the Orange Bowl against Clemson, and if that’s the case I see our final record at 12-1.  That would be a great start to the new era, and hopefully a springboard to keep the momentum going in future seasons.

It’s been 252 days since Mountaineer football underwent one of it’s biggest transformations in history.  No need to rehash the events that occurred following that fateful December date, but 36 weeks later the boys in Old Gold & Blue look to show that the 2008 Fiesta Bowl was the beginning of a good thing and not just a one-hit wonder of a game.  The coaching staff has been rebuilt, recruits have been signed, and camp is over.   The new season starts Saturday with a home opener against Villanova, so it’s time to look into the cracked crystal ball.  I’ve got so much to say I’m breaking this into two parts.  Totday, the people.  Tomorrow, the games.

The obvious change is the ascention of Bill Stewart to the head coaching position after Rich Rodriguez took the Michigan job.  In many ways Coach Stew is the anti-Rod.  Rod is a high energy, up-tempo, swear-in-your-face guy who is deeply involved with all facets of the offense and somewhat suggestive of the defense.  Stew, by contrast, is a lower key guy who appears to act more as an administrator and is quick to hug a guy for a mistake instead of cussing him.  For all the things most of us deduced about Rod following his departure (a stubborn, self centered egomaniac who would sell Rhett for an advantage), he was a pretty proven commodity – the WVU program grew by leaps and bounds under his control.  Stewart, by contrast, has spent most of hs career as a low key background assistant who has had one unsuccessful stint as The Man (eight wins in three seasons at VMI, never a power program in the Southern Conference anyway).  Stewart was tapped to succeed Rod basically on his wildly successful efforts to hold the team together during a tumultuous December and shocking Oklahoma in Phoenix.

I have no problems going on the record and stating (just like I told others in January) that I was not excited by the hiring of Bill Stewart.  I’ve talked with him several times and find him to be one of the nicest coaches I’ve ever met, but I thought his hiring was quite knee-jerk following the upset.  Still, he was going to be the coach of the team I love, so I told myself that I would give him a chance to prove himself before deciding to pan him.  Since then, I’ve been very impressed by the moves he has made.  I think the staff he put together is outstanding and is probably the main reason that they were able to stitch together a decent recruiting class, no to mention starting off the new meat-market with a bang.  The philosophies of the new staff also sound good to me, which is basically maintaining what we’ve done best (use the spread to run teams over) while adding new tricks (something called a forward pass, and some weird concept about using this forward pass with some position called tight end) we were missing in years past.  The defense remains a 3-3-5, something I do not support, but at least we have a full compliment of athletic linebackers to make it work.  There was also a story in the Dominion comPost noting that our defensive backs are being encouraged to actually defend receivers rather than laying back and preventing the receptions from breaking off another 15 yard after the catch.

Personnel wise, there’s not a ton of differences.  Offensively, Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt are now being legally paid and there’s a small void left in the backfield.  Noel Devine is far and away the starter at tailback, bu there are question marks about the backups.  No one really stepped up in camp, so the two deep lists freshman Mark Rodgers behind Devine, with Zach Hulce and Terence Kerns trying to get involved.  Will Johnson, by most accounts, will be a acceptable replacement for Owen.  The wideouts and slots return Tito Gonzales, Dorrell Jalloh, and the sparingly used at slot Jock Sanders, while Alric Arnett has stepped nicely into the rotation.  Sanders is seeing increased actionthis summer, while QB recruit Bradley Starks is reportedly making nice progress as a receiver.  He’s also listed as the #3 QB behing Pat White and Jarrett Brown.  The offensive line figures to be solid once again (even though I’m not much of a Stanchek or Isdander fan), with the only noteworthy item being that stud recruit Josh Jenkins is in the two deep as a backup.  New OC Jeff Mullen wants White to throw the ball more, so it’ll be key for the receivers to stand on their own quickly when the lights come on and for the o-line to improve their pass blocking.

Defensively, the backfield has lost most of it’s starting experience but has a lot of roster spots with game experience.  The news back there (as mentioned) is that Dave Lockwood, secondary coach, wants his guys to actually cover receivers and prevent completions instead watching receivers catch balls from 15 yards away.  Hopefully these guys will be athletic enough.  The linebacking corps is more than deep enough to handle the loss of Marc Magro (graduation) and the missing Reed Williams (injury).  Mortty Ivy, Pat Lazear, and JT Thomas are great returning players, while Archie Sims and Najae Goode have been turning heads.  They’ll be hoping that the guys on the line will keep them clean, which may or may not be a question.  Scooter Berry (you may have heard of him in passing – he’s Jason Gwaltney’s half brother without the attitude) returns to be a rock inside, while several names circulate to replace Johnny Dingle & Kelein Dykes – Julian Miller, Zac Cooper, Doug Slavonik, and Larry Ford. Additionally, Pat Leibig returns to Morgantown for a rare sixth year of eligibility after taking two years off to manage a family issue.  As long as the new linemen come along, the stellar linebacking talent should help keep opposing offenses off balance while the relatively green defensive backs get comfortable.  I still hate the 3-3-5, but if it keeps offenses in check it’s all good.

Overall, the personnel is in place to have another big year.  Is it enough to go undefeated and play for crystal footballs? At this point there’s no definitive answer, and that silence is probably enough to answer the question anyway.  Is it enough to win the conference title and spend the third of four years in the BCS?  Absolutely.  Next time, I’ll ponder the schedule.

Most NASCAR fans (and many sports fans in general) have seen the ending of the Bristol race Saturday night when Kyle Busch tried to show Carl Edwards his displeasure over getting brushed aside for the lead and Edwards’ eventual win.  Unfortunately for Shrub, he wound up looking like a first class wuss when his “retaliation” got shoved in his face.

Memo to Kyle – it’s best not to get pwned when trying to act like the tough guy.

So many details dancing in my head…gotta drop ‘em off in short bits.

I think it’s a safe presumption to label anyone who wears a Bluetooth headset (a) not using it while (b) walking around a giant douche.   It’s bad enough if you’re a 20- or 30-something business type doing this, but if you’re a 50+ grandmother doing it you just look plain retarded.

Saw a car rolling around town recently whose driver is quite the dumbass.  Stuck to the back door (of course it’s an SUV) was a Hillary ‘08 sticker.  Keeping it close company was an Obama ‘08 sticker.  Look, I know that people are allowed to change their minds, and in politics if one’s candidate doesn’t win they can vote for the next choice.  Still, posting your primary choice on your gas guzzler only to place your general choice next door says less about your individual beliefs than it does your sheep-ness.  Yellow dogs in plain sight.

For the dog days of summer, our degrees have been down.  Average August temps here are around the mid 80’s, and the last several years have seen plenty of daytimes in the 90s.  For a good contrast, we spent several days in the mid 70s.  There is no better weather than a sunny 70 in the summer with a slight breeze.  Back up to the 80s now, but damn that was nice.

School daze are almost upon us.  The college kids are back, and this weekend is the end of freedom for the younger set. Different perspectives – I used to hate the first day of school.  Now, it can’t get here soon enough.

We don’t really have much of a rooting interest in the Olympics, but since it only dangles in front of us once every four years we check in occasionally.  The Jamaican sprinters are downright nasty, destroying most of the competition to dominate the medal tally.  I think Usain Bolt’s story and performance is more intriguing than Michael Phelps…possibly because it seems Phelp’s story has been shoved down our throats every damn day this decade.

Nothing else wants to drop from my fingers, so time to power down.

Today is D-Day in Morgantown….the day when the town is overrun.  Yes, parents from all over – West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, etc. – are clogging the streets of town starting today, the Opening Day of the dorms at WVU.  For the rest of this weekend parking will be at an additional premium and defensive driving will be extra important as the procreators of 5,000+ college freshman come to town with vans, trucks, & SUVs stuffed to the gills, and that’s not including the ones who rent an extra trailer or bring in an additional moving van.  Traffic normally sucks at the beginning of each semester as teenage drivers familiarize themselves with the, um, “creative” road system here.  At least they are generally tentative, though, until they learn our maps.  Not so with the old folks – because they “know how to drive” from doing it so long they don’t bother to pay attention to the nuances, and they’re the first ones to get pissed off when they get honked at for messing with the patterns.  At least they’ll be gone soon.

Don’t get me wrong – the benefits of having a major land grant institution far outweigh the negatives, and I’m generally one of the first to stick up for the students.  Still doesn’t mean I’m ready to reassume the 9-month traffic schedule yet.